My Houzz: Family-Friendly Design in Wisconsin

Houzz Contributor. Hello! I'm a professional photographer in Madison. My name is Kaia. It means “Earth” in Norwegian and I live up to that by tree hugging, dog loving, and nature walking. My first word was “happy,” I still love to jump in puddles, I strive to live simply and self-sustainably, and my favorite color is yellow. I’m married to a stunningly handsome, ridiculously talented, and intensely loving musician husband. We have two spunky and sweet baby girls, one furry friend, and we all live happily ever after in a house on a hill in the land of southern Wisconsin.
I am a photographer bent on capturing the uniqueness in life. I strive to serve my clients lovingly.

Houzz Contributor. Hello! I'm a professional photographer in Madison. My name is... More

After Nanak and Sarah Malhotra moved into their home in Madison, Wisconsin, they updated the lighting, paint and flooring. And they filled the house, built in 2001, with repurposed family-friendly pieces and colorful accents.

“Eight years and two kids later, this house is everything we thought it would be,” says Sarah, pictured here with Nanak, son Aaron and daughter Lauren. “We’ve been known to have a few dance parties and sumo wrestling matches in the living room during the long winter months.”

“The first floor is where it all happens — meals, playtime, art, homework and music. While I’m making dinner, my oldest is coloring at the little white table, and my youngest is playing with his toys. There is plenty of room for us to be together yet have our own space,” Sarah says. “The dining room is the perfect size for our family to have dinner, as well as for friends and neighbors who stop by.”

Sarah found the console in her parents’ basement. “I gave it two coats of spray paint, Devine Pepper by Valspar, and painted the knob in gold to give it an updated look.”

Except for the flooring and lighting installation, every project was done by Sarah or her father, George Calhoun. “Over time, we have painted every room, the oak trim, and various pieces of furniture and art,” Sarah says.

The XOXO sign was a five-minute DIY art project. “I had an old canvas in the basement and wanted something fun and whimsical yet big in scale for our family room. I used a can of white spray paint to get rid of the existing art and then took a chip brush dipped in black paint to make the letters,” she says.

The matching ivory sofas are upholstered in a kid-friendly, machine-washable fabric. Instead of a matching coffee table, Sarah added in a vintage rustic-style wood trunk that will look better over time and provides extra storage. “I love hunting for special pieces of furniture that just need a little TLC,” she says. “Bookcases, tables, chairs and even our wood tripod lamp were all either roadside trash or garage sale finds.”

“We kept a similar color palette throughout, focusing on the colors that make us most happy: blues and yellows,” Sarah says. “The front room, or piano room, houses a bookshelf made by my dad, George Calhoun, with leftover wood found in the garage. He lined the back in beadboard and sprayed it white.”

Sarah also uses this room to curl up at night with a good book. “Since it’s an open-concept floor plan, it’s perfect for when the kids have extra energy to burn off before bed. Usually 10 laps around the first floor does it,” she says.

The piano is a family heirloom that has been used by three generations. “Even though the original bench broke, I found a similar one at an antiques mall in Columbus, Wisconsin,” Sarah says. She also teaches piano lessons here. “While I continually change the decor in the other rooms, this room remains the same. I just love it in here,” she adds.

These wooden letters are another garage sale find. “I was going to do some creative DIY project with them but decided to put them in a bowl in the meantime,” Sarah says. “It’s amazing how many times my kids play with them while I’m making dinner or while they’re waiting for me to finish teaching a piano lesson.”

The M sign is one of Sarah’s DIY projects. “I found the wood in a free pile outside a construction company. I gel-stained the wood for the frame and painted a piece of plywood with black chalk paint,” she says. “I love the rustic wood and having a reminder of our family’s beginning.”

When the family moved in, the mantel in the family room was oak, and the fireplace was surrounded by green and purple tile. “It was an eyesore,” Sarah says. “One afternoon, my dad and I decided to tackle that project. We painted the mantel a soft white to match the trim and put neutral tiles right over the slate ones. It sure makes decorating a lot easier in that room.”

The upstairs bedrooms are connected by a long hallway featuring recent framed black-and-white photographs of the family. The lighting was installed by local Madison electrician Kevin Kessenich from Kessenich Electric.

The number art is one of Sarah’s DIY projects, inspired by something she once saw in a catalog. “It took some planning to make the numbers, and muscle to hang it,” she says. “I painted it on scrap wood I found in our basement, and it fills that wall perfectly.”

The walls in the master bedroom are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter. Sarah painted the nightstands in soft Halcyon Blue by General Finishes. The soft blues create a beach-inspired vibe to remind the couple of their favorite trip to Hawaii.

Sarah is an interior stylist and says, “I use my home as a playground of sorts, trying out different styles and adding in new accessories. I joke that I change out my pillows more than I change my socks. I just love how inexpensive accessories, like a few pillows, can change the whole look of the room.”

“Every corner of her room has its own little purpose,” Sarah says. “A vintage desk that once belonged to my great-grandmother is where she does her homework. A bookcase, a $10 garage sale find, is where she stores all her little books and treasures. A jewelry command center is where she organizes all her accessories, and a canopy tent is where she escapes for journaling and reading.“

For Aaron’s room, Sarah kept the walls neutral with Gobi Desert by Behr and added color with painted furniture. The bed has been in Sarah’s family for 70 years. The small schoolhouse chair is from the garage sale in Door County where Sarah picked up a few other things for the house.

“Since our son loves cars, I hung an old road sign along with address art,” Sarah says. The open storage encourages cleanup and offers easy access to favorite toys.

“The influences of Emily Henderson and Shea McGee of Studio McGee have shaped our decorating style. I like modern accessories but also love vintage pieces that make our home feel like it’s been collected over time,” Sarah says. “I used to joke about the vintage ‘trash’ my parents would find to decorate their home with, and now I am asking for those same pieces.”

Sarah painted the drawer fronts of an old Ikea dresser blue for Aaron’s bedroom. On top of the dresser are wooden toys that were a neighbor’s birthday gift to Aaron when he turned 2. Sarah’s father made the black box for her for her college graduation. “Inside is a compass and our Scottish tartan, so I always know where I came from,” she says.

The shelving is from salvaged wood found in the free bin at a local lumberyard and hung with L brackets from Home Depot that Sarah spray-painted black. “The chalkboard sign is from the Target dollar bin,” Sarah says. “I wrote the ‘Be brave’ message on it when he was born and haven’t changed it yet.”My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.